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VoyagerOS - Devlog 2

Desktop environment

VoyagerOS is no longer just a terminal.

The interface now boots into a desktop environment with draggable windows, a taskbar and a cleaner workspace. Multiple applications can stay open at the same time, making the OS feel much closer to a real operating system.

Applications

Several built-in applications have been added to the system.

These include a file explorer, settings panel, media viewer and a simple browser for navigating mounted data. They all share the same window manager and integrate with the rest of the desktop instead of acting as separate pages.

File system

The file explorer now uses a virtual filesystem instead of static content.

Directories can be browsed through the desktop interface, giving VoyagerOS a proper file hierarchy to build future features on.

Interface improvements

A lot of the interface was cleaned up during this update.

The desktop now has a proper wallpaper, improved window styling, better spacing and a more consistent visual style across the operating system. Small changes like these make the whole environment feel much more cohesive.

Observations

Moving from a terminal-only interface to a desktop introduced a lot of state management problems.

Keeping track of active windows, focus order and application state ended up being much more involved than expected, but it also made the rest of the system easier to expand in the future.

The desktop is now in place.

The next step is adding more applications, expanding the filesystem and continuing to make VoyagerOS feel like software that could actually exist aboard Voyager-9 and fixing drag of icons.